An electric vehicle charging system may be defined as a system for charging a battery of an electric vehicle using power obtained from a commercial power grid or an energy storage system. The electric vehicle charging system may assume various forms according to varying types of electric vehicles. For instance, the electric vehicle (EV) may also be referred to as an electric car, an electric automobile, or a plug-in vehicle (xEV). The xEV may be classified as a plug-in all-electric vehicle or a battery electric vehicle (BEV), a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV), or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).
In a case that a battery of an EV requires charging, the EV may attempt to discover a proper charging station or charging spot on its driving path. That is, the EV may attempt to discover a primary device comprising a primary coil corresponding to the charging spot or a supply equipment communication controller (SECC) of an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) managing the primary device.
Also, an electric vehicle communication controller (EVCC) installed in the EV may setup communications with the SECC for the discovery of the charging sport, configuration of communications, charging of the battery, and the like. As such, the communication setup between the EVCC and the SECC may be performed using various conventional methods. For example, the communications between the EVCC and the SECC may be configured using a wide area communication network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a home area network (HAN), as illustrated in FIG. 1.
The EV may also have various communication interfaces, e.g., A, B, C, D, E, and F. The interfaces are located between the EV and the EVSE, a base station, the HAN, or a user mobile terminal, between the EVSE and the HAN, or between the EVSE and an end user measurement device (EUMD). In either case, the EV may be connected to an EVSE management system, an energy service provider system (ESPS), a billing service provider system (BSPS), a load management system (LMS), or a customer emergency medical service system.
Meanwhile, in order to charge the battery of the EV, the EVCC of the EV may discover a specific primary device which is the most suitable to the EV among a plurality of primary devices connected to at least one SECC in a charging station. The EV may then perform the charging of the battery after parking the EV and/or aligning the EV with the charging station.
However, while it is relatively easy for the EV to discover a SECC managing a plurality of charging spots, a means for the EV to automate its charging processes has not yet been introduced. As an example, user convenience can be maximized by enabling the EV to automatically discover a specific charging spot among a plurality of charging spots which are respectively located in parking bays.